TVLINE | Are the citizens of Terminus cannibals?
[Laughs] There are a great many number of possibilities for that storyline and who those characters are and what they’re doing, and that is certainly one of them. It’s not completely out of the realm of possibility, but I can neither confirm nor deny anything at this time. Who the people of Terminus are and what their deal is will be dealt with fairly quickly when we come back for Season 5.

TVLINE | Do you want us to be thinking that Carol and Tyreese could be in the Sloppy Joes that Mary served Rick & Co.?
[Laughs] It’s entirely possible. I’m stopping myself from making very horrible jokes. We’ll just have to see. It’s certainly fine for people to speculate.

TVLINE | Why not give us a clue about their fate, especially coming off of last week’s harrowing episode?
Seeing that group in the train car and knowing that all of those people are together and that Rick is very capable and very prepared… We kind of felt like we needed more unknowns to keep people guessing. And leaving the fate of Beth and Carol and Tyreese and Judith completely ambiguous kind of gives us that. We’ll deal with [their whereabouts] fairly quickly when we come back for Season 5. They could be in another train car. They could be in part of the barbecue, as you say. Or, maybe, they found a Denny’s and they’re just having a good time.

TVLINE | How does the Terminus situation differ from Woodbury? In each case, we have a group of people whose method of surviving poses a threat to our core characters.
Woodbury was much more of a return to civilization. It was a safe place. It had a leader who had a lot of secrets, but, on the surface, it was a place where families could live and people could survive. Terminus is not that. It’s a completely alien environment with very strange people that live in a very specific and strange way that is in no way any kind of remnant of what we knew before. They’re actually a lot more dangerous and a little bit scarier when it all comes to light.

TVLINE | Has Daryl developed more than brotherly feelings for Beth?
It’s possible. Daryl is very protective and he’s formed very strong bonds with a lot of characters, Carol included. And now Beth. Whether or not that would eventually grow into a romantic relationship we’re keeping ambiguous, much like the relationship between Daryl and Carol was fairly ambiguous. If Beth ever comes back, hopefully, we’ll find a definitive answer to that.

TVLINE | We were reminded in the finale that Carl shot a boy who basically posed no imminent threat. Does it make Rick a hypocrite for banishing Carol for killing Karen and David, both of whom actually did pose a threat?
The situation with Carl was somewhat different. While Hershel felt like it was very definitive that the kid posed no threat, there was a little bit of ambiguity there. But, sure, there’s somewhat of a hypocritical element in Rick. I think that for all of his rules and all of his attempts at being a leader and trying to set a good example he would in a minute break the rules for Carl. He would definitely throw everything out the window for the kid’s safety — which, in a sense, is kind of what happened in the finale. He spent the whole season trying to show Carl that, “We have to retain our humanity, we have to not lose ourselves, and we have to not allow this world to darken us or steal away what it is that makes us people.” Yet, when the chips are down and he has no other recourse he loses all of that. He throws it all completely out of the window and kind of becomes an animal. When it comes to Carl there are no rules.

TVLINE | It was incredibly disturbing to see Carl almost get raped. What was the discussion like surrounding how dark to play that sequence from the comics — especially coming so soon after last week’s Lizzie horror show.
That was a tough one. That scene has always been a really difficult one. When I was writing the original comics, in the panel description for artist Charlie Adlard I [wrote], “Carl is on his back, and the guy is pulling his paints off – but don’t worry Charlie, he’s not going to get raped!” I actually included that in the panel description because it is such a heavy and dark scene, and I didn’t want Charlie to be freaking out while he was trying to draw that. But when it came time to adapt that for the show… We are trying to realistically portray the kind of things that would happen after the fall if civilization. We try not to shy away from the depths that people can sink to in various situations. It’s not like we’re portraying things that don’t, unfortunately, happen in real life. We’re not really pushing the envelope too far. It is a fine line that we’re trying to walk here, between being realistic and also being unrelentingly dark and morbid. I hope that we’re walking that line well. And I hope that people still see the entertainment value of watching these people survive. I do feel like we did push things to the edge in that episode, [but] I don’t think we went quite over the edge.

TVLINE | When Rick had his Dirty Harry line at the end, are we to interpret that as him kind of making peace with the monster that this new world has made him?
Yeah, he’s resigned to the fact that he’s going to have to be a different person in order to survive. He’s really accepted the fact that he is that guy. He’s the guy that can take that on, that can be that leader, that can go to those levels if he needs to. Now that he knows that that’s in him, there’s a confidence to him now that he hasn’t had before. And that confidence will carry with him into Season 5 and, theoretically, get them out of that horrible situation.

TVLINE | What were you trying to convey with the Hershel flashbacks?
That was an attempt to show that this entire season has been one story, and it’s been a story of Rick’s evolution into this new darker version of himself. [We wanted] to go back and show the influence of Hershel and how important that character has been and will continue to be. And to show how far Rick has come, and emphasize what they lost and where they’re going to have to go moving forward.

TVLINE | There were no major deaths in the second half of the season, at least not on the level of a Hershel or a Lori. How come?
After a while we can fall into a trap of, “Oh, here’s the finale!” or “Here’s the episode before the finale — we’re going to be seeing some big character deaths.” We kind of recognized towards the end of Season 3 that, for our show, the most shocking thing to do, the most novel thing to do, the most unexpected thing for us would be to not kill anyone. We want to keep people guessing. We don’t want things to ever get formulaic. The character deaths in our show are never done for shock value or just to have a bit of excitement. There’s always a story purpose. And sometimes you don’t need those deaths to do that. This finale was just as impactful and dark and shocking as you need a finale to be to carry viewers over that gap between seasons.

TVLINE | Lastly, the finale was titled “A” — what does it mean?
[It refers to] Train Car A. They were put in Train Car A.

I agree. People might whine about the speed or about watching entire eps about characters they arent fond of, and all that…but in reality it was a GREAT way for us to get to know these characters on a deeper level individually (or in small groups) and have a deeper understanding of their motives. We watched basically every character evolve into something new. Thats a great thing. If you watched each episode Binge style on Netflix (Or DVD) i bet the season is even better.
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Everything points to Cannibals. If your prey/food/livestock is humans, you bait them with signs everywhere that safety/utopia is *here* (point on a map)…you get them there, they walk in the gates (unlocked no guards), they fall for the bait, you then corral them into the final trap where you store your food (train car). Also adding up is in what world do they need such a HUGE BBQ for? What in the world are they grilling (meat wise) in such quantity and in such huge size? (big slabs of meat). Its not like they would have 15 cows out back or something…they are on a train yard not a farm (even then, this far into the Apocalypse you couldnt have enough feed/water to raise that many cows).
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My biggest issue is…WHAT A WASTE OF AMMO!! Lol wtf?! Do they have like 10,000 rounds laying around? Shooting at their feet to corral them where they wanted them to go (train car) must have been 1,000 rounds of ammo used…also the writers/whoever need to read up on some science, in regards to bullet ricochets. With that many rounds being fired onto cement from those angles, no way one of the group doesnt catch at least one bullet from a ricochet.

I really agree with both of your points! What a huge waste of ammo, and how did they obtain that much? And as for the ricochet scenario. One or more persons definitely would have been hit by a ricocheted bullet. That is just the law of reality and physics. I really do wish producers would use more common sense. While I was watching that finale and no one being hit by a bullet, I was shaking my head and saying to myself… No freaking way, there is no freaking way that no one was hit.

I thought the finale was good and now most of the characters are back together.Yes there are a few loose ends to tied up in regards to Beth,Carol,Tyrese and Judith’s whereabouts and other things but that just makes people want to tune in next season to find out what happened to them.Plus i’m fine that there were no major deaths in finale because that may have taken away from what the episode meant.So i can’t wait for next season.

Could’ve let us know what happened to them ,I mean come on everyone is going to watch until the end of the series, why would u even doubt that. But if anything happens to Beth I am done with it I’m sorry to say.i love Beth so please let her live all through the series.

I think Carl is the most annoying character I’ve ever seen. He’s just plain stupid. A good example is when he’s trying to enter a house by breaking through the front door when there are panes of glass on either side of the door that he could have easily broken to gain entrance.

That was Carl’s chance to be a “tough guy”. His dad is a police officer, doors get knocked down by police officers, heroes in video games, etc…it was his chance to do what every kid on this planet would want to do if adult supervision/wisdom was not around to say otherwise.

Hey dude he’s really find to me because I already know about every character so far until there’s a 1 threat going to end the cannibals n he’s A NEWEST character he’s a S.W.A.T. Police n comes to take down the cannibals 1 n for all n plus he’s hunting the 2 dear men name rick and Carl!!! His name is ROB RYAN!!

Guaranteed, Carol and Tyreese were almost there, they heard shooting and took cover, watching on as Rick and co were captured. One stays with Judith and the other sneaks in frees them at night. Then they go get the buried guns and kill em all

Daryl belongs with Carol. Their love will triumph, and Beth will crawl back to whatever hole she came out of. I wonder if the producers are aware they’ve created a shipper war between Caryl fans and Darth fans to rival that of Buffy/Angel and Buffy/Spike.

I only know of one person who insists on making a “war” out of it. All other Caryl shippers I know maintain themselves with a strong sense of rationality and grace. You also insisted that Carol did not kill Karen and David. Well we now know that was wrong don’t we.

I really liked the finale. I wasn’t too crazy about the first half of the season with the outbreak and the episodes that focused on the Governor, but the second half was fantastic. It’s going to be a painful wait for Season 5.

I was screaming at the screen and when Rick tore into that guy with his teeth I was screaming yes yes kill them all lol Its what I hope I could do if ever in that position with my kids moral to this scene do not mess with Ricks son lol

Scott Gimple has really saved this show. Seasons 2 and 3 were a nightmare from a storytelling viewpoint, if not from a ratings standpoint. Hopefully AMC will actually let him stick around for a few seasons. I’d be interested to see what Gimple would do with another season and I’d like to hear his breakdown of the finale.

Lola, not trying to be mean internet guy, but the ratings for TWD have grown every season and it is easily the most watched show on all of TV every week in the 18-49 (excluding sports). The main issues with the previous showrunners were their story ideas clashed with AMC’s and other executive producers. I think Scott has written some of the series best episodes and I do too hope that he remains with the show.
My only problem is that unlike Lost’s first 2 seasons where the character focused episodes revealed new info about the characters that was interesting/exciting, most of the charcter driven episodes felt slow because no real new information was learned about the characters. Examples:
-Carl’s episode (mid-season premiere) showed him trying to be an independent man, but by the end of it, it just showed that he was still a child dependent on his dad.
-Michonne’s confirmed that she had a child (which most people assumed based off of her reaction from holding the baby in the jail previously). They didn’t need to spend a whole ep. just to reveal that she had a kid that died. In a post-apocalyptic world where everyone has lost the majority of their family, that really just isn’t that shocking or interesting.

Anyways, while TWD is definitely uneven, when it’s great, it really is great TV. I hope stays with the show and next season has more balanced story telling.

I was telling people that they were overplaying the “who will die” card and that the most shocking thing would be if nobody died. I thought this was a very strong finale and I think that the show did a great job on character development this season.

I loved the finale and I like that they don’t need to kill someone at every season finale. Actually Rick’s action were more shocking than a death. But something I don’t understand about the interview: Kirkman said that this season has been “Rick’s evolution into this new darker version of himself” but it totally contradicts the “we are not gone too far” speech to the gouvernor in the mid season finale and more important the look Hershel gave to Rick before he died. He looked at Rick meaning “yeah you got it, after what you have been trough with Lori’s death, you came back from that darkness”. At that moment I felt that the speech and Hershel’s look was one of most powerful scene of the entire serie and that interview took away the majesty of it. So I like Dark_Rick, I like the fact that he would break any rules for Carl and I am very confident for season 5 but this interview takes away some great acting/writing of the mid season finale.

For some reason, you seem to think that none of the events that occurred right after his plea to the Governor’s morality (namely, the Governor’s people destroying the home they planned to stay at indefinitely) affected Rick or the other characters at all since then.

Of course, that’s only half the season for which Kirkman attributes Rick’s character development. Hershel’s own falters with his faith (particularly in the fifth episode in which he shamefully trades the Bible for a gun) represents the necessary dichotomy whose presence is not necessarily as something that “totally contradicts” any character development up to that point and from then onward. By the point Hershel died, no character was fully evil (not even the Governor battling, and losing to, his own past and ego) nor, on the other extreme, fully saintlike. There’s a reason why the midseason finale dropped the “Not” in its title: “Too Far Gone.”

Being “not too far gone” plays along the lines of coming to terms with the bad things the individual has done (and, to a lesser degree, experienced, as you mention with Lori’s death) and still has yet to do to survive while still remaining a good person in the face of it all. This was made clear in the Season 4 premiere and was a major thematic element throughout the first half of the season (for Hershel, too) and why Rick’s speech in the midseason finale was so powerful: the woman in the woods. In sobbing out her lament for doing wrong things as she kills herself, “I can’t do things like this. And you have to do things like this…You don’t–you don’t get to come back…” The fact that he indeed honored her wish and left her body to turn into a walker that later attacked the prison in the midseason finale shows his mental degradation into believing her words. They repeatedly come back to haunt Rick as Hershel attempts to tether Rick back by saying in the same episode, “Some people are too far gone. You’re not.” And he still might not be; is Rick still a good person? Can he still be a good person for the things he’s done and will do?

It’s hardly this interview to blame for bringing up inherently conflicted themes. It was made very clear in the finale following Rick’s brutal killings to protect Carl and the others that he was coming to terms with the side of him capable of killing as he had done and, as the interview noted, may be in his favor in Season 5 to keep moving forward. “It ain’t all of it, but that’s me,” and there’s more of both darkness and light coming from Rick as a character. The impact from him saying, “we’re not too far gone,” still holds the significance at the point it was cried out. Rick found a combination of earnest peace and savagery with Hershel’s help, some posthumous. What should be the most important and relevant thing to ease your complaints is Rick’s resolution with his newly embraced darkness (emphasized in the finale by the seemingly idyllic flashbacks): “That’s why I’m here now. That’s why Carl is.”

Yo Terminus has to be infested with cannibals, there is no reason why those people would give Rick&co powdered milk if it wasn’t to fatten them up and make there meat more tender. that is what they do for cows and veil. As far as Beth goes, she better be safe, she gave Daryl so much hope, I was starting to see the light in his eyes. Can’t wait for October!

i feel sorry for anyone that plays poker with robert kirkman he gives nothing away or gives ten different possibilities to one question its slow torture but i love his evil ways lol fantastic finale shout out to alistercrane u r dedicated to your ship n i find it very entertaining i mean this has become a epic ship war between bethyl n caryl its like a show within a show its amazing to watch all this insanity i really am amazed by it all i personally am fine with whatever the writers plan on doing but at this rate the shipper part of the fandom will soon implode cannot wait for the fall i miss rick michonne carl n daryl already

Honestly who cares what any of your opinions are. The reasons the writers make the episodes the way they are is for you people to watch and be entertained. No one honestly cares what you think of the show in the long run they are still making money and your paying them…
“Hey Terminus. Guess what? Your screwed.”

I loved the finale. I’m not sure which line I liked better, “You are my brother”, or “They’re screwing with the wrong people.” It’s going to be a long wait for fall, but at least the hubby and I have Game of Thrones next week to ease our pain! :-D

The reason the show goes into such depths with the characters is to make us all connect and feel like we know them all really well which is what makes it so compelling to watch. I too am going to miss them all . Best thing I have ever seen on tv. Can’t wait for season 5

This show has captivated its audience by superb writing. The characters come to life with there three dimensionality. All of them are both good and bad but worthy of our pathos. We harbor good will for them and see the individuality as they struggle together to find a common humanity. Despite the slings and arrows they cling to there humanity (except for occasional and nescessary savagery). It is a wonderful exodus story full of the only thing they have left, hope.

Wow! That was a great finale. I enjoyed every minute of it. I can not wait till the next season. The writers really keep you on your toes, Just can not wait for more zombies to come my way. The actors are awesome. love how that make you feel as though you are in show, Keep making the Walking dead and I will keep watching. R. Gilmer April1, 2014

Season 5 had better show more of Melissa McBride, what a waste of fine talent having her gone most of the season. Wasn’t happy at all about no Carol/Rick/Judith reunion, and the fact that no one except Sasha remembered they had family/friends that could be out there was shockingly bad writing!! And please no more Dead Eye’d Beth/Daryl scene’s, that whole fiasco was torture. Made Daryl look like some dumb teen wannabe, making stupid mistakes and getting careless. Worst pairing out of the whole second half!

The Termites have too many people for just eating. They would need to be feed and that is counterproductive. I think they are experimenting on people. Maybe looking for a cure or vaccine. Maybe some shot that makes you invisible to the walkers and the guy Carl wanted to save was a failed experiment. The new scientist in the group is there for a reason.

This show is still generally entertaining with good makeup and special effects,also a fair amount of suspense but this season was a bit disappointing with the ambiguous scenes and a couple ridiculous ones like the fake rabbit and the waste of ammo by the Terminus folks/cannibals.As someone else here mentioned,the angle at which those shots were fired would certainly have resulted in more than one person accidentally taking a round to a vital area of the anatomy,the ricochets also looked like party fireworks as they hit the ground.Pathetic attempt indeed!!

Carol should save the day. Mellesa is a fantastic actress better than most of the actors in the TWD. The writers would make a fatal blunder if they waste such a great actress like Mellasa . CAROL IS ONE OF THE CORE MEMBERS OF THE GROUP SINCE SEASON 1 AND SHOWED SOME EXTRAORDINARY EVOLUTION IN HER CHARACTER . SHE MARKS THE LINE BETWEEN HERSHEL AND THE GOVERNOR .SHE COULD BE A BETTER LEADER THAN RICK .

The characters I find very annoying are Glenn,Maggie and Carl . Horrible acting and whats with the romeo juliet in a Zombie apocalypse ? Overall all the scenes with Glenn and Maggie were a turn off .The only things good about this season is Carol ,Michonne and Daryl .I could even stand Tara and Rosita but not the Obssessed MAggie or Glenn. Sasha’s acting and Bob’s were good too but carol is the best

Ya I agree Please Kill off Glenn , Very poor acting . Beth was also very good at this season and Carol was the best .Episode 14 was the best episode of the entire walking dead .Me and my family were also crying at the end . show much emotions portrayed by mellasa . I also agree with the evolution of her character and she should survive and be throughout the series . TWD writers should be constructive at least from now on . WE already had too many deaths in the past 4 season and there should not be any major deaths atleast for season 5 and season 6 . Glenn or Maggie are the only ones who deserve to be killed .I was hoping Glenn is dead in season 2 or 3 . The love story just deviates the story from its usual thrill , tension and suspense and they are very bad at portraying that love between them. They do not add much to the plot nor to the story and their is no evolution to their character .

So please writers there is nothing to could drag more of Glenn and Maggie . you have a new love story between Bob and Sasha who are better actors in my opinion and they deserve more screen time

Kirkman is killing the show. He is not listening to anybody else!
Frank Darabont should never have been let go. I read up on the circumstances. He is the one that offered balance. This is not a comic book! And Kirkman thinks it is! He understands the genre. But its coming to a head now. People love the show because they love the characters. Ego’s are starting to get involved. We don’t want to just read or re-read the comics! Somebody has to get Kirkman’s ego in check. HEELLLO! Get a grip now!

Cannibals? For sure!
No question they are eating people there…and its a great dichotomy. Zombies/Humans. Fantasic way to go. And shocked me when a buddy mentioned it first! I don’t read the comic or graphic novel, so I don’t know if this is common. But I think its got a certain “Lord of the Flies” thing to it if its true! I believe it has to be after re-watching it. And i just want to say…despite my earlier criticism etc…I LOVE THE SHOW! And am proud to say I have recruited 4 people who were against it a 100%! To now love the show! :)

It’s a shame that Shane is dead. He would have made a great leader, and was no more of a loose cannon than Rick. I believe Shane would have totally agreed with what Carol did, and would never have banished her, whereas Carl can shoot anyone to death, and Rick sees no problem with that. Double standard going on here.

What about the smoke they saw from “The Grove” (definitely one of the darkest episodes)? Probably from Beth and Daryl burning down the moonshining still which means they stayed there until about the timeframe “A” took place since they didn’t leave until the day after the fire went out (white smoke) which means Carol, Ty, and Judith were farther from Terminus than anyone, and so were still on their way to Terminus during the final moments of “A”

Oh my gosh! This is the most dramatic and ultimately the best tv series I’ve ever watched! I started watching the series on Netflix a little over three months ago and I’ve already watched every episode in seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4. Not to mention it’s kinda weird how much this series has control over my emotions. Every time some one dies or leaves (mostly main characters) I just burst out in tears. I love The Walking Dead, and I cant wait until season 5!

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME IF LIL IS DEAD OR ALIVE. WILL DARYLE AND BETH BE A COUPLE , AND WILL RICK EVER FIND LOVE AGAIN, WILL MICHONNE AND TYE HOOK UP, I AM A FAN FROM DAY 1 2010 HOOKED ON THE WALKING DEAD,

Morgan is comming back to reality goes to prison and see its run down and finds the signs about terminus gets there and sees Rick Carl michone get caught and joins with tyrese carol Judith.morgan and tyrese saves the day

To the producers of The Walking Dead.
Love the show, please get Bill Shatner to do a cameo. That was a great idea perhaps you could get the girl who plays his daughter in that commercial to be with him. I realize that The Walking Dead is a serious drama; but I’m sure your incredible writing staff could come up with something tasteful.
Your most appreciative fan, Mike.